Association News

PMA announces Metalforming Pioneer Award recipients.

Press Release Summary:

February 27, 2013 -
PMA announced latest recipients of PMA Educational Foundation Metalforming Pioneer Award. Diemasters Manufacturing was recognized for its Diemasters Productivity System and LISSTs Training Series, while Eclipse Manufacturing was selected for its workforce-development efforts and its dedication to lean manufacturing practices. Marlin Steel Wire Products was chosen for its investment in technology and in its people through vigorous training and professional growth to make that technology work.

Diemasters Manufacturing was recognized for its Diemasters Productivity System (TDPS) and LISSTs Training Series, a proprietary platform that promotes customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and lowest landed costs, allowing the company to Manufacture Smarter™ for its customers, while creating an open, collaborative environment within the company.

Eclipse Manufacturing was selected for its workforce-development efforts which have contributed to measurable improvements in quality and throughput, and its dedication to lean manufacturing practices to grow capacity while using nontraditional marketing to gain new customers.

Marlin Steel Wire Products was chosen for its investment in technology and in its people through vigorous training and professional growth to make that technology work, thus fostering its growth from a small operation supplying baskets for bagel shops to a premier supplier of enclosures for a variety of markets.

Beginning in 2011, PMAEF, through a grant from the Hitachi Foundation, has been identifying and developing case studies about metalforming companies excelling as successful businesses, through enhanced values, culture, policies, practices and investments. These are companies whose success fosters and is driven by skill enhancement and advancement opportunities for their production employees, creating pathways to reach higher levels of business success while also improving the skills and increasing earnings of their lower-wage employees. The Metalforming Pioneer Award has been created by PMAEF to identify and recognize these excelling metalforming companies, and in doing so, to provide outreach to other companies in the industry so they may learn and apply practices that will impact their bottom line while improving the skills and lifestyles of their employees.

These “pioneers” are featured in a special insert in the February 2013 edition of MetalForming magazine and will participate in events to engage other companies in the industry. Visit www.pma.org/foundation/hitachi to read more.

The end result of this program will be to further the Hitachi Foundation’s mission, per its CEO and president Barbara Dyer:

“The Hitachi Foundation is uniquely focused on the roles of business in society. Our strategy is to promote employer practices that enhance business value while also boosting economic opportunities for lower-wealth Americans. PMAEF is an excellent partner for us and we are pleased to be a part of the Metalforming Pioneer Awards. The three companies highlighted here join the previous six as outstanding examples of how your sector’s leaders are ‘doing well’ and ‘doing good’ to the great benefit of their employees and communities.”

PMAEF also has partnered in this project with The Manufacturing Institute (the Institute), which is assisting with pioneer identification, evaluation and promotion. The Institute is the education and research affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and focuses on developing human capital strategies through manufacturing education reform and workforce development. The Institute is on the ground in 35 states deploying a national manufacturing certification system in high schools and colleges to advance the current workforce and prepare the next generation of skilled manufacturing talent.

Established in 1996, the PMA Educational Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization dedicated to the promotion and development of a skilled workforce for the metalforming industry. PMAEF operates as a supporting organization to PMA.

PMA is the full-service trade association representing the $113-billion metalforming industry of North America—the industry that creates precision metal products using stamping, fabricating, spinning, slide forming and roll forming technologies, and other value-added processes. Its nearly 900 member companies also include suppliers of equipment, materials and services to the industry. PMA leads innovative member companies toward superior competitiveness and profitability through advocacy, networking, statistics, the PMA Educational Foundation, FABTECH and METALFORM tradeshows, and MetalForming magazine.